Jack Ingram & Ellis Paul in USA Today

Monday, May 30, 2016

Ingram has 'Big Dreams' for Album

Jack Ingram hasn't chosen a title for his new album, but he knows it'll come out March 17. "There's a song I haven't recorded yet called Big Dreams and High Hopes," says the Texas-based singer/songwriter. "In my mind, that's the working title. But it's not the title yet."

Ingram's 2007 album, This Is It, was the 38-year-old singer's commercial breakthrough, with four top 20 country hits, including the chart-topping Measure of a Man. The new album's first single, That's a Man, is currently in the top 25 of USA TODAY's country airplay chart.

Ingram has written several new songs with Radney Foster, who is producing the album along with Jeremy Stover. The album also will include a cover of Boston singer/songwriter Ellis Paul's The World Ain't Slowin' Down. "It's by far his most popular song," Ingram says. "It'll be fun for me to expose people to a fantastic song from an artist who's had a 20-year career of being a very successful folk artist." Brian Mansfield, USA Today

Ellis Paul in the Boston Globe

Monday, May 30, 2016

Lighters down, checkbooks up A growing number of musicians are looking to fans, not record labels, to help fund their albums and tours. And giving has its perks. By James Reed Globe Staff / April 12, 2009

Ellis Paul, a veteran singer-songwriter who first made his name in New England's folk clubs in the 1990s, found himself in a disconcerting position last year. He had decided not to renew his contract with Rounder Records, his longtime label, but wanted to make a new album.

With no immediate ideas for funding, Paul took a novel approach: He enlisted his fans, posting a letter on his website asking for donations. Since July they've surprised him by contributing more than $90,000 through a Framingham-based online service called Nimbit, along with checks sent in the mail.

"When you're only selling 20,000 or 30,000 records, you don't really need a label," he says. "We figured we could do this in-house, but we just needed the money, and where was the money going to come from?"

In a growing trend reminiscent of the old-fashioned ways of artists and patrons, musicians around the country - including local singers Mieka Pauley, Mark Erelli, Kris Delmhorst, and former Throwing Muses singer-guitarist Kristin Hersh - are depending on their fans for unprecedented financial support. And it's not just limited to American artists. In France, singer-songwriter Grégoire channeled fan funding through the website MyMajorCompany.com and released "Toi Moi," which peaked at No. 2 spot on the French album charts.

Even as the economy deflates and the record industry continues its downward spiral, indie artists are finding that their supporters are eager to help. In a sense, the fans are replacing - or at least augmenting - the traditional role of a label, which previously would have financed the album with a monetary advance and then taken care of the promotion and distribution.

Piano-playing songwriter Seth Glier, who lives in Western Massachusetts, is only 20 but has already built a fan base that supported him on a recent monthlong tour. Through online efforts, Glier raised $2,500, which came in handy as he and a bandmate zigzagged across the Northeast and had to pay for gas, tolls, and the occasional hotel room.

The initial goal was to raise $500, which Glier accomplished within two hours and then kept going. Glier admits it takes a certain caliber of artist to ask fans outright for money. "It was an idea I had a couple of years ago, but I have a really hard time asking for help," he says. "When I was able to unclench my fist, it was great to realize how many people were there for me."

The fans aren't technically just giving money to these artists: They're buying services.

To fund "The Day After Everything Changed," his new album out in the fall, Paul allowed fans to buy different tiers of sponsorship, ranging from $100 (the "Antje Duvekot Level," named after the local singer-songwriter) up to $10,000 ("the Woody Guthrie Level").

The higher the contribution, the greater the goods. For $100, you got an advance copy of the album with a bonus disc of demos and outtakes, along with tickets to one of Paul's shows. For the top-level contributions, of which Paul received a few, fans got several perks - everything from a one-year membership to Club Passim to a signed acoustic guitar to a credit as an executive producer of the album.

One $10,000 contributor, a Boston-based fan who wished to remain anonymous ("People are losing their jobs and homes right now. I don't think it feels sensitive," she explains), says she and her husband couldn't pass up the opportunity to have him write a song for them, one of the perks at their donation level. They even visited Paul in the studio.

"We left feeling that our donation - as well as everybody else's - is in very good hands," she says. "In this day and age, to pull out your pocketbook, it's got to be something pretty compelling."

Karen Zundel, a librarian in Pennsylvania who's been a devoted Ellis Paul fan for 12 years, says she even saved up for her contribution because it held more importance than your typical splurge. "The arts are what sustain us and bring individuals and communities together and help us to connect with our innermost beings," Zundel says. "A new car won't do that. When you buy a new car or a new outfit, you get that little thrill that lasts very temporarily, and then it's gone. But I think art really sustains me. It lasts."

But the way that art gets to the consumer is changing. Dave Kusek, vice president of Berklee College of Music who co-authored the book "The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution," says the role of record labels is declining.

"I personally think unless you need massive radio airplay, there's very little reason for record labels to engage with artists anymore," he says. "It's a relic of the past in that artists today can find other ways to get to the market, to get money, to distribute their product in a way where they have a lot more control."

Kusek acknowledges there are pitfalls to blazing a new trail with fan funding, though. "I do think there's some risk if you don't deliver," he says. "Essentially, you are relying on people's trust in you. They're effectively loaning you money in the hopes that they'll get something in return. So if you don't come through, you're running the risk of alienating your fans and eliminating those relationships."

Jill Sobule, who rose to fame in the mid-1990s with the ubiquitous hit "I Kissed a Girl" (long before Katy Perry swiped the topic), recorded "California Years," set for release on Tuesday, with the help of $80,000 from fans after establishing a website, www.jillsnextrecord.com, specifically for the project.

"I know some people say that's a lot to record a record," she says, "but it's also for everything a big label is supposed to do: publicists, marketing, promotions, distribution. I've pretty much used all of it."

Like Paul, Sobule offered various services at different price points. For $10,000 one lucky contributor got to sing on a new song. Sobule says she vetted the idea with her fans first. "That's really important: You leave out the middleman and go directly to the fans and talk to them," she says.

The one thing she hadn't counted on was the level of freedom fan funding brought her, both financially and creatively. "In the old model, you'd have to sell 150,000 albums for people to think you were successful," she says, "and now you don't have to."

"It definitely is humbling," she says of asking fans for money. "I feel like I better do the job for my fans. I better bow down to them more than a record label. They're the ones in control now, in a way."

New Signing: WPA!

Monday, May 30, 2016

RALPH JACCODINE MANAGEMENT PARTNERS WITH WPA

New Album To Go On Sale Fall 2009

[For Immediate Release – May 2009] Boston, MA – Ralph Jaccodine Management (RJM) is proud to announce that Works Progress Administration or W.P.A. (www.wpamusic.com) will be joining their management roster. Founded in 1992, RJM has worked with some of the nation's top musicians such as: Ellis Paul, Antje Duvekot, Flynn, Adam Ezra Group, Bang Camaro, Martin Sexton, Averi, Vinx and The Push Stars. Black Wolf Records, a 15 year old independent record label started by Ralph and Newbury Comics CEO, Mike Dreese is also run by Ralph Jaccodine Management.

In an era where the expectation is that a "supergroup" is something conceived by business executives, this band came out of an authentic and vibrant musical community, and the album is a beautiful reflection of its origins. W.P.A. was born out of the musical community surrounding the legendary LA club, Largo. The eight members of the band had known and admired each other for years, and found themselves with a strong batch of unrecorded songs, a little down time, and a collective feeling that it might be a good idea to put something on tape.

New Music Seminar NYC 2010 : July 19-21

Monday, May 30, 2016

The New Music Seminar began in the 80's and 90's and was the largest music conference in the world, starting all other conferences including SXSW, Canadian Music Week, the Winter Music Conference and others. The NMS is a way to teach artists, managers, agents, labels and others how to maximize fan relationship management, and get to the 300 ticket mark in multiple markets, while at the same time creating change in the industry by working with our partners. The NMS New Music Business Guidebook, given to every attending delegate, is filled with forms, marketing and promotion tips, do's and don't's and other valuable information to help artist's kick start their career.

NMS is happy to announce that after the success and the requests from delegates attending various NMS events last year, especially NMS Los Angeles, which sold out, NMS NYC 2010 will now be extended over two days and three nights from July 19-21, 2010, The Opening Night Party on Monday, July 19th as well as the daily seminars, will be held at M2 Ultra Lounge, located at 530 West 28th Street (between 10th and 11th Streets), with the nightly events on Tuesday, July 20th and Wednesday night's Closing Night Party, July 21st, to be held at Santo's Party House, located at 96 Lafayette Street (one block south of Canal Street). NMS will be adding an additional Movement over the two days, along with "Breakout Sessions", "Lectures" and some surprises that will make this year's event in New York even better.

FOR A LIMITED TIME: 2 FOR 1 DEAL, simply put in code nmsny10 when registering, and you will get 2 registrations for price of one. $150 early bird rate is only good until April 30th. For more information, please visit the NMS website (below).

ANTJE DUVEKOT Nominated for Best Music Poll '09 - VOTE NOW!

Monday, May 30, 2016

Antje's been nominated for Boston's Best Music Poll '09 Best Female Vocalist -- Please vote your support & pass on to friends! VOTE HERE!

RJM Signs Adam Ezra Group!

Monday, May 30, 2016

[Boston, MA] – Ralph Jaccodine Management (RJM) announces the signing of Boston-based Adam Ezra Group (www.myspace.com/adamezra) to it's management roster. Founded in 1992, RJM has worked with some of the nation's top songwriters such as: Ellis Paul, Antje Duvekot, Flynn, Martin Sexton, Bang Camaro, and The Push Stars. Black Wolf Records, a 15 year old independent record label is also run by Ralph Jaccodine Management.

Adam Ezra is an extremely passionate musician and songwriter. Drawing from his experience of living out of his van, farming in Canada, doing relief work in Kosovo, studying in South Africa, working as a kitchen hand or carpenter, teacher, lacrosse coach, or world traveler, Adam manages to cram it all into the music, always challenging our perspective and often teetering somewhere between the ballsy rocker and sensitive poet

The Adam Ezra Group devotes a good deal of time to community outreach and activism. Their recent schedule is highlighted by spots at the environmentally conscious Rothbury Festival along side Dave Matthews Band and John Mayer, Boston's Earthfest and the Download Festival. Emerging out of Boston, the group's live performances have made them a staple in the Northeast and are continually growing their fan base nationally

"Adam Ezra can write an indelible song from basic folk to classic-rock material...just try to get the melody out of your head." - Boston Herald "Boston's new voice in acoustic rock"- Boston Phoenix

2015 Boston Music Award nomiations!

Thursday, November 5, 2015

We are excited to announce that out artist, Shun Ng, has been nominated for his third Boston Music Award - International Artist of the Year!!

Also, two of our team members have been nominated for awards - Holly McGarry's band Honeysuckle and Ian Jones' band Grey Season have both been nominated this year.

Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated this year!

Shun Ng signed to Supreme Entertainment

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

After over a decade in the music industry, Shaun Hague has carved quite a path on all sides. Hague has played the part of Touring Sideman (Kenny Wayne Shepherd, John Waite), Writer (Acoustic Guitar, Fretboard Journal), Talent Buyer (Saint Rocke) and the agency world (Monterey International). Now as an agent for Supreme Entertainment Artists, Hague is the RA for many talented acts such as Pat Travers, John Waite, Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), Freedy Johnston, Meiko, Marie Digby and Shun Ng.

Born in Chicago, raised in Singapore and based out of Boston, Shun Ng (pronounced 'ing') is a fingerstyle guitarist, vocalist and acclaimed international performer known for his unique and virtuosic style which infuses elements of Soul, Funk, Blues and Jazz. Shun dazzles audiences from all over the world with his flamboyant technique, soulful vocals and hypnotic groove. Today he stands as one of the most dynamic and innovative performers, winning accolades from legendary producer, Quincy Jones to fellow fingerstyle virtuoso, Tuck Andress.

"I was dazzled by his technique and captivated by his guitar grooves. Shun's music has that special quality, the dream of all musicians, the natural ability to touch the heart of the listener."
- Tuck Andress (Tuck & Patti)

A year ago, Shun played a sold out show hosted by one of his biggest fans, Quincy Jones, at the Eli Broad Stage in LA. "When you see Shun Ng, you won't believe your eyes nor your ears - he belies all stereotypes, all premonitions. I was simply blown away by both his soul and his science - his creativity and his uniqueness is astounding."
- Quincy Jones

Highlights of his touring have been several sold out shows in his former country of Singapore and Malaysia, a run of five shows at Biscuit & Blues in San Francisco. After his APAP showcase and Rockwood Music Hall show in NYC, Shun played at The Opera House in Boothbay, ME, The Center for the Arts (TCAN) in Natick, MA, and Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, NH and has a sold out 2Cellos show at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, MA in May.

Witnessing Shun's one-man band performance live is an unrivaled experience that is not to be missed.

New Ellis Paul interview with Where Magazine

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

"Boston singer-songwriter Ellis Paul has been composing folk music since 1993. Since then, he’s worked his way to the forefront of the local and national music scene with 15 studio albums and another set to release in 2012. He frequently collaborates with Kristian Bush of Sugarland and toured with the Grammy-winning country band for the second time this summer, and he’s a favorite of the Farrelly Brothers, who have featured his music in their films “Shallow Hal” and “Hall Pass.” This month, Paul wraps up his 20th year making music and sat down with Where to reflect on his career, folk music today, and the fact that he’s just as busy as ever." - Leigh Harrington, Where Magazine

Ellis Paul performs with Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

"Last night, Kristian played his annual Thanksgiving solo show at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, a longstanding tradition performed this year alongside singer-songwriter Ellis Paul. The pair traded songs -- many of which they'd written together -- and told stories of their twenty-year friendship over two shows and close to four hours of music, as the other half of the Bush Brothers, Brandon, contributed accompaniment on piano and accordion." - Sugarlandmusic.com

Ellis Paul and Amy Black named to WUMB's Top Artists of 2011 List

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

"You voted -- and we’ve tabulated the votes - all 3,514 of them from 31 states and 6 countries! Ballots were submitted from September 1 - November 7, 2011. Several hundred performers received votes, and several performers have made it to this list for the very first time!" - WUMB.com